I am so excited to share these embroidery hoop orbs. I am a sloppy crafter which means my craft projects will never trend on Pinterest. And, I am good with that. So when I was asked to join an embroidery hoop craft challenge I thought this was my chance to get my craft on.

But, first I Googled “embroidery hoops” to confirm they were what I thought they were.

I ordered a “lot” of embroidery hoops on eBay because I wasn’t sure what I was going to make or how many hoops I would need. Let’s just save I can make a dozen orbs.

I decided to make orbs because I liked the look of similar projects on Pinterest and orbs matched my decor style.

embroidery hoops

I knew I wanted to stain these. I took the lazy route and didn’t separate the hoops.

Do as I suggest, not as I d0.

Take a few minutes to detach the hoops, it made a huge difference in the time it takes to stain and the quality of the finished look. I used a foam brush and a small paintbrush to get around the metal fasteners. After I stained the embroidery hoops I decided it was harder to stain hoops than furniture.

I loved the difference the stain made to the embroidery hoops. The stain gave them an instant Pottery Barn like finish. This craft project was headed in the right direction.

The stained orbs looked great with our shelves on the opposite ends of our this updated fireplace.

I wanted an easy way to attach the hoops, but finally committed to the power drill to drill pilot holes and then attach a small screw at the top and bottom of the orb. The wood was soft enough that with a little muscle you could secure both ends with a tack.

I figured this out when my drill’s battery died mid-drill.

I love the finished look of the orb. The embroidery hoop’s stained wood finish added much-needed character to the shelves. I have a few more embroidery hoop orbs “in production.”

On a side note, I love the shadows created from the lighting above the orbs onto the white shelf.